Puzzle Shelf

My Dad was a genius about how things worked and he made over a hundred wooden puzzles. Some were only two pieces, and some would be impossible to figure out, even if you worked for days, without directions. He made us some in past years, and we have had them sitting on the edge of our shuffleboard table, where little hands mess with them regularly, and they would get knocked over by the curtains when we opened/shut them. So we've been talking about a shelf for them for a while. We finally got the shelf made & put up this week and put the puzzles on it. I am so glad to have a place for these puzzles, which are sort of a legacy for my dad.

I miss him.

Wall-Hanging Paper Bursts

I saw an idea from a Better Homes and Garden article called Room in Bloom. I used their idea to create something for the bottom of my screen door wall hanging. I had made a small flower like this before, but never one of this size, and the idea of putting together to create a colorful wall hanging was wonderful!

Yellow Dress

I bought this dress because it was on sale, has a great "feel", and it is my favorite color!

 I got it out to wear it last month, and realized it has this hip-area problem. I can't imagine that any one would have enough hip to fill this out, and it seems like it is in a weird spot! I decided to sew it down before wearing it and this is what I got:

All I did was sew a straight line down each side. Amazingly enough, at the widest point it was only an inch from the original side seam. What a big difference a few inches can make! I think it was quite an improvement, and am glad I can sew a straight line, because that is all it took!

Fabric Toy Basket

My husband and I went round-and-round on what to do with the toys that our toddler strings all through our house all day long. We needed a place that she could clean them up herself by just piling them in, but it needed to be in this room that we use with guests often, so it needed to look nice too. This was my solution:

I have been working on this crocheted basket made of strips of old sheets and hand-me-down fabrics. My kids have helped me tear them into 1 inch strips, which they actually thought was fun, most of the time. :) I am planning to add a few more rows, but it will sit for now like this, because quite honestly, I am tired of working on it and want to do something else!!!!

Paper Shamrock Wall-Hanging

I made a HUGE paper shamrock to hang on my wall, just like I'd have made one with quilling paper strips. It is made with about 1 1/4 inch strips that were about 20-26 inches long. I stapled it all together, as I didn't think glue would hold it. I wanted you to see how big it was, so I wanted this photo with the yardstick included:

I hung it in the top rectangle of my screen door wallhanging, but think it needs something else. I tried gluing a banner to the front that said "Happy St. Patrick's Day," but it didn't look good. Any suggestions on embellishing it?

Milk Jug Snowflakes

The kids and I made these recycled milk jug snowflakes, way before Christmas, to hang in the yard. I love them because I know they will NEVER disintegrate since they are made from a milk jug, and they were a fun way to decorate the yard without lights. We just cut a jug or two apart and used the flat sections to cut these shapes. My kids are young, and could only cut a simple star shape out.

I tried to use my die cutter to do one of these, but it was not strong enough to go through the plastic. It did make an impression on it that I was easily able to easily follow and cut with my scissors this shape. I also made a free handed one, and took close-up photos of both, but am having problems with Blogger photo uploads and will not be posting the close up photos of those. I love how well they showed up.

Repurposed Scarves From An Old Sweater

Anyway, I took this old school sweater that I loved the feel of (but not the style of) and unraveled the whole thing and put the yarn into balls and crocheted a few scarves. So me and my two best college friends have coordinating scarves....because two of the scarves are for their Christmas.

I know I took a picture of the sweater before, but can't find it in the computer. We've had a lot going on at our house, so I'm not surprised I can't find it!! If I find the picture somewhere, I'll post it later.



Since it is weeks after Christmas, I only have two of them at my house....I actually finished one before Christmas and mailed it to one of my friends. The other I just finished and will be mailing tomorrow, if at all possible.

Tee Necklaces

My mom recently sent me a site with these recycled tee shirt necklaces and I wanted to try them. So I pulled out hand-me-downs from my sister's kids and cut the tee into 3/4 inch loops.

This green one is my first attempt. I put it on and thought, "No way am I wearing that." But decided I'd wear it to the mall today, not planning to see anyone I knew and see what I thought about it after seeing it all day. I did like it better by the end of the day, but am still not sure about it. So I decided to make a few more and see if maybe it was the color/thickness that was not right.....but since I didn't 'feel it' for these either, I decided to post them here to get feedback. I am hoping someone will look at them and tell me if they're tacky, or trendy.

What do you think?

Dress Redo

I took this dress that looks like it has been around for 10-15 years, and knew it had potential. I hung it in my closet for a year....until I had inspiration today to make it into something much more fun! First up was taking out the seams on the slits in the bottom and sewing it back together, no more slits. Then I cut the embroidery/lace bottom off and put a hem at knee level. I knew even though that lace looked terrible along the bottom, it had potential, so I pinned it across the chest of the dress until I liked the arrangement and sewed along the top of the lace. I think it is quite an improvement.

Here is it on:

Jersey Rosette, Take 2

I did try this again, and like it better, but am still not loving the thing. This time, I kept it loose and scrunched it a bit when I glued it down. I don't think I'm wasting the hairpin though, I don't think I'll wear it. But did want you to see the less-trivet-like creation!

Gathered Hair Flower

I decided to try a different type of hair flower, and I think this turned out much better than the last one (trivet!).

I took this piece of fabric from a load of fabric given me by my family, and it was already folded and sewn together. I decided to just gather it across the bottom, with folded side out and then sewed the ends together. Then for the center, I took a black stretchy fabric a couple inches wide and made a pretty knot. I put the ends through the center, hot glued everything in place and put it on the hairpin. Fastest hairbow ever!

Paper Buttons

For all those who thought I was not making cards anymore, here are the ones I made this morning after getting the weekly email from Splitcoast Stampers with the tutorial on paper buttons.

The buttons are made from four layers of punched paper (pink) with a layer of homemade paper on top. Glue them all on top of each other and then cover the whole thing with Crystal Effects. I like the finished product. I didn't think it was popping enough on it's own, so I added some color behind it on the card and tied a string though the button holes. Here are the two pink ones I did first:

Then I decided while I was going I should make a couple more, so I used another piece of homemade paper and made these. I used a piece of cardboard, coated all over with VersaMark for the brownish strip along the bottom of the card.

Bird in a Cage

I feel like I haven't done much crafting lately, and when I saw this little bird cage craft, I wanted to try it for our house. So, I didn't follow the directions exactly, but here is my version:

I used an oatmeal top for the cage bottom. It was clear, so I put a white circle on one side. For the cage cross-pieces, I used a box top that I had kept around for a while, knowing that silver would come in handy sometime. Also, I didn't have a pretty piece of paper 16.5 inches long to do around the diameter of the bottom, so I cut diagonally through a 12x12 piece and used that center strip. My strips are all about 1 inch across. I think I would make them smaller next time. You can't see my bird as well as I'd hoped.

I thought I'd try making it myself, and then see if my little 5 year old girl can make one too. I definitely think she could do one with help....but it would be better for someone a little older.

Sequin Shamrock

I wanted my daughter to have a fun shirt for St. Patrick's Day and decided on this:

So quick and easy. I put an embroidery hoop on the part of the shirt I wanted to use, so the fabric would stay taut. Then I grabbed a bag of her little craft sequins and pulled out the green ones. I sewed them on by stitching through them twice and putting the thread on either side to keep them down. I was quite pleased with the result.

I created a Valentine's shirt for my daughter with sequins too. Only the heart was smaller and filled in. An easy way to make a simple holiday shirt, and I think you could just remove the sequins later if you want to wear it past the actual holiday.

Kasnzashi Silk

I love these hair flowers and want one for every outfit! They keep the hair out of my face and from behind my ear and they are beautiful! I made this one from the same fabric as the flower on my purse, so I will match all over when I wear it!

Then I got this sample of 100% silk fabric from the fabric store this weekend to try a silk flower. The fabric had stripes of different colors, but I thought cream would go with almost anything, so I started there. Then I decided it needed a bright red, fabric covered button in the middle - so much for matching anything....Oh well.

I think the silk is pretty, and has more of a sheen on it, but am not sure I will do many more from pure silk. It unravels like crazy and isn't the easiest fabric to work with.